A PLASMA FACTOR FROM A PATIENT WITH A BLEEDING TENDENCY CAUSES PLATELET SECRETION IN THE ABSENCE OF EXTRACELLULAR CALCIUM

1987 ◽  
Author(s):  
S R Cockbill ◽  
S Heptinstall ◽  
H B Burmester

A woman with a history of bruising and bleeding but with a normal platelet count and normal clotting factors, had platelets that appeared grey when stained and viewed under the microscope. Unlike the grey-platelet syndrome, the abnormality was only evident when the blood had been collected into EDTA andnot when citrate or heparin was used as anticoagulant. When we examined the EDTA-blood further we found that large quantities of beta-thromboglobulin andserotonin (5HT) were present in the plasma with only small quantities in the platelets. Hie reverse was the case for blood collected into citrate or heparin. LDH (a cytoplasmic marker) levels in EDTA-plasma were not raised.Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) was prepared from blood collected into heparin and labelled with ^-4C-5HT. Incubating the PRP with EDTA (4mM) or EGTA (3mM, sufficient to chelate all the plasma calcium but not the magnesium) caused extensive release of 14C-5HT from the platelets. When Ca++ was removed by passing the PRP through an ion-exchange resin, extensive 14C-5HT release also occurred. Hie release reaction induced by exposing the platelets to a low-Ca++ environment could be prevented by agents that increase cAMP levels.In a series of cross-over experiments, we discovered that the platelet secretion that occurred on removing Ca++ was caused by a plasma factor. Platelets from a healthy donor which had been labelled with 14C-5HT were resuspended in the patient's heparinised plasma. Incubating the platelet suspension with EGTA resulted in extensive release of 14C-5HT. Heparinised plasma from the patient was also passed through a column of Protein A-Sepharose to remove the immunoglobulin fraction. EGTA-challengof control platelets resuspended in the eluted plasma did not cause any release of 14C-5HT, suggesting that the plasma factor responsible may be an immunoglobulin.We have yet to discover whether this new abnormality (that on initial investigation could be confused with the grey-platelet syndrome) has any relevance to the in vivo bleeding situation in the patient in whom it was discovered.

1981 ◽  
Author(s):  
E Szwarcer ◽  
R Giuliani ◽  
E Martinez Aquino

For studying heparin effect on blood coagulation and on inhibitors, the drug was added at increasing amounts to a normal platelet poor plasma (PPP), and to plasmas of patients with variable amounts of clotting factors (cirrhotic, pregnant, etc) -IN VITRO STUDIES-, and infused to the same individuals -IN VIVO STUDIES-. Modifications on two clotting assays (KCCT-TT) were compared to heparin potentiating effect on AntiXa (Denson & Bonnar tech).When studied IN VITRO, the sensibility of KCCT, TT, and AntiXa techniques for heparin measurement was similar. IN VIVO, an apparently greater sensibility using AntiXa technique was observed.For determining if this phenomena was related to a specific enhanced potentiating effect of the inhibitor against Xa, exerted by heparin IN VIVO, experiences were repeated IN VITRO and IN VIVO, measuring heparin effect on KCCT, TT, and on the inhibitor, studied against Xa and thrombin. A personal technique was used for the measurement of Antithrombin III heparin potentiating effect, using diluted platelet poor test plasma, heated (56°C 15’) and incubated with thrombin during a fixed time, and reading residual thrombin on citrated human PPP. IN VITRO, all techniques were similar in their ability to show heparin presence.IN VIVO, the potentiating effect of heparin on the inhibitor, measured against Xa or thrombin, was greater than the changes obtained on KCCT or TT.So, AntiXa-Antithrombin III techniques seem to be more sensitive for heparin measurement IN VIVO.This “dissociation” of results in between the potentiating effect on the inhibitor, that is not simultaneously exerted on global coagulation, is interpreted as a heparin pro-coagulant effect, exerted by the drug IN VIVO.


Blood ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 75 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
DJ Kuter ◽  
RD Rosenberg

Abstract The relationship between the bone marrow (BM) megakaryocyte and the circulating platelet was explored. Incremental changes in platelet count were made in rats by infusion of antiplatelet antibody or by platelet transfusion, and the response of megakaryocytes was measured by flow cytometry. Proportional changes in megakaryocyte ploidy were demonstrated: As the platelet count declined, ploidy increased; as the platelet count increased, ploidy decreased. Even moderate degrees of thrombocytopenia and thrombocytosis (48% and 177% of the normal platelet count) were associated with changes in ploidy. These changes were not the results of the technique used to alter the platelet count because reinfusion of platelets after 3 hours of thrombocytopenia prevented any ploidy change. These studies proved that the circulating platelet and the megakaryocyte constitute a classic feedback loop whose activity can be measured by the degree of ploidization of the megakaryocyte. The minimal duration of thrombocytopenia necessary to promote megakaryocyte ploidy changes was approximately 10 hours. Using a BM culture assay, we identified a plasma factor which induced alterations in megakaryocyte ploidy and whose level is inversely proportional to the platelet count.


Blood ◽  
1972 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 490-499 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harold M. Maurer ◽  
James A. Wolff ◽  
Sue Buckingham ◽  
Arthur R. Spielvogel

Abstract Functional, biochemical, and morphologic platelet abnormalities are reported in four children with the syndrome of albinism, mild bleeding tendency, prolonged bleeding time, and normal platelet count. In these children, primary platelet aggregation with adenosine diphosphate occurred normally, but secondary aggregation was impaired. Collagen and norepinephrine produced almost no platelet aggregation. Platelet content of serotonin (5-HT) was markedly reduced, and uptake and retention of 5-HT by the platelets in vivo and in vitro was poor. In one child who was given a tryptophan load, urinary tryptophan metabolites were normal, suggesting that there was no evidence of a block in the 5-HT synthetic pathway in the gastrointestinal tract. Electron microscopy revealed an absence of densely osmophilic granules in 5-HT poor platelets. Platelets from other albinos with no history of bleeding contained normal amounts of 5-HT and densely osmophilic granules.


Blood ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 75 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
DJ Kuter ◽  
RD Rosenberg

The relationship between the bone marrow (BM) megakaryocyte and the circulating platelet was explored. Incremental changes in platelet count were made in rats by infusion of antiplatelet antibody or by platelet transfusion, and the response of megakaryocytes was measured by flow cytometry. Proportional changes in megakaryocyte ploidy were demonstrated: As the platelet count declined, ploidy increased; as the platelet count increased, ploidy decreased. Even moderate degrees of thrombocytopenia and thrombocytosis (48% and 177% of the normal platelet count) were associated with changes in ploidy. These changes were not the results of the technique used to alter the platelet count because reinfusion of platelets after 3 hours of thrombocytopenia prevented any ploidy change. These studies proved that the circulating platelet and the megakaryocyte constitute a classic feedback loop whose activity can be measured by the degree of ploidization of the megakaryocyte. The minimal duration of thrombocytopenia necessary to promote megakaryocyte ploidy changes was approximately 10 hours. Using a BM culture assay, we identified a plasma factor which induced alterations in megakaryocyte ploidy and whose level is inversely proportional to the platelet count.


Blood ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 86 (8) ◽  
pp. 3021-3025
Author(s):  
S Eichinger ◽  
PM Mannucci ◽  
F Tradati ◽  
AA Arbini ◽  
RD Rosenberg ◽  
...  

Several enzymes can activate factor VII in vitro, but the protease responsible for generating factor VIIa in vivo has not been determined. Using recombinant tissue factor that has undergone a COOH-terminal truncation, a sensitive functional assay has been established for measuring plasma factor VIIa levels. To evaluate the mechanism responsible for the generation of factor VIIa in vivo, we measured the levels of this enzyme after administering purified concentrates of factor IX and factor VIII to patients with severe deficiencies of these clotting factors. In patients with hemophilia B, factor VIIa levels were initially reduced to 0.5 +/- 0.1 ng/mL and gradually increased to normal after infusing 100 U/kg of body weight (BW) of factor IX. Despite these increases, there were no significant changes in the generation of factor Xa or thrombin. In patients with hemophilia A, only a slight reduction in factor VIIa levels (2.5 +/- 1.3 ng/mL) was observed as compared with controls (3.3 +/- 1.1 ng/mL) and no significant changes were observed after factor VIII levels were normalized. The administration of recombinant factor VIIa (10 micrograms/kg BW) to patients with factor VII deficiency increased the mean circulating level of the enzyme to 118 ng/mL, but this only resulted in normalization of the levels of the activation peptides of factor IX and factor X. The above data indicate that factor IXa is primarily responsible for the basal levels of free factor VIIa generated in vivo (ie, in the absence of thrombosis or provocative stimuli) and that changes in the plasma concentrations of free factor VIIa in the blood do not necessarily lead to alterations in the extent of factor X activation.


Blood ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 86 (8) ◽  
pp. 3021-3025 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Eichinger ◽  
PM Mannucci ◽  
F Tradati ◽  
AA Arbini ◽  
RD Rosenberg ◽  
...  

Abstract Several enzymes can activate factor VII in vitro, but the protease responsible for generating factor VIIa in vivo has not been determined. Using recombinant tissue factor that has undergone a COOH-terminal truncation, a sensitive functional assay has been established for measuring plasma factor VIIa levels. To evaluate the mechanism responsible for the generation of factor VIIa in vivo, we measured the levels of this enzyme after administering purified concentrates of factor IX and factor VIII to patients with severe deficiencies of these clotting factors. In patients with hemophilia B, factor VIIa levels were initially reduced to 0.5 +/- 0.1 ng/mL and gradually increased to normal after infusing 100 U/kg of body weight (BW) of factor IX. Despite these increases, there were no significant changes in the generation of factor Xa or thrombin. In patients with hemophilia A, only a slight reduction in factor VIIa levels (2.5 +/- 1.3 ng/mL) was observed as compared with controls (3.3 +/- 1.1 ng/mL) and no significant changes were observed after factor VIII levels were normalized. The administration of recombinant factor VIIa (10 micrograms/kg BW) to patients with factor VII deficiency increased the mean circulating level of the enzyme to 118 ng/mL, but this only resulted in normalization of the levels of the activation peptides of factor IX and factor X. The above data indicate that factor IXa is primarily responsible for the basal levels of free factor VIIa generated in vivo (ie, in the absence of thrombosis or provocative stimuli) and that changes in the plasma concentrations of free factor VIIa in the blood do not necessarily lead to alterations in the extent of factor X activation.


1975 ◽  
Vol 33 (02) ◽  
pp. 278-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Şeref Inceman ◽  
Yücel Tangün

SummaryA constitutional platelet function disorder in a twelve-year-old girl characterized by a lifelong bleeding tendency, prolonged bleeding time, normal platelet count, normal clot retraction, normal platelet factor 3 activity and impaired platelet aggregation was reported.Platelet aggregation, studied turbidimetrically, was absent in the presence of usual doses of ADP (1–4 μM), although a small wave of primary aggregation was obtained by very large ADP concentrations (25–50 μM). The platelets were also unresponsive to epinephrine, thrombin and diluted collagen suspensions. But an almost normal aggregation response occurred with strong collagen suspensions. The platelets responded to Ristocetin. Pelease of platelet ADP was found to be normal by collagen and thrombin, but impaired by kaolin. Platelet fibrinogen content was normal.The present case, investigated with recent methods, confirms the existence of a type of primary functional platelet disorder characterized solely by an aggregation defect, described in 1955 and 1962 under the name of “essential athrombia.”


1975 ◽  
Vol 34 (02) ◽  
pp. 409-418 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. M Nilsson ◽  
S.-E Bergentz ◽  
U Hedner ◽  
K Kullenberg

SummaryGastric juice from 15 normals, 20 patients with gastric ulcer and 4 patients with erosive haemorrhagic gastroduodenitis was investigated in respect of its activity on unheated and heated fibrin plates and its content of FDP and plasminogen or plasmin with immunochemical methods. Gastric juice from normals showed no activity on unheated and heated fibrin plates, and no FDP or plasminogen could be demonstrated. In the patients with gastric ulcer the gastric juice showed little or no fibrinolytic activity on fibrin plates except in 2, who had regurgitation of duodenal juice and neutral pH of the juice. These patients had equally high activity on heated as on unheated plates and no plasmin could be demonstrated. It was shown that this activity was not due to fibrinolysis, but to non-specific proteolytic activity (probably trypsin). The patients with erosive haemorrhagic gastroduodenitis exhibited quite a different picture. The gastric juice from these patients showed extremely high activity on fibrin plates, the activity was higher on unheated than on heated plates. The activity was inhibited in vitro by addition of EACA and in vivo after administration of AMCA. The occurrence of plasmin could be demonstrated directly immunologically in the gastric juice. By comparison of plasmin and trypsin in various assays it could further be proved that the gastric juice in these cases contained plasminogen activator and plasmin. The patients with erosive haemorrhagic gastroduodenitis showed no increase in fibrinolysis in the blood, but low values for plasminogen and α2M, and the serum contained FDP. These findings in the blood and gastric juice were interpreted as signs of local fibrinolysis in the stomach and duodenum. There is reason to assume that this gastric fibrinolysis contributes substantially to the bleeding tendency. The effect of administration of AMCA on fibrinolytic activity and the haemorrhage lends support to the assumption of such a mechanism.


1995 ◽  
Vol 74 (05) ◽  
pp. 1244-1251 ◽  
Author(s):  
H Stormorken ◽  
H Holmsen ◽  
R Sund ◽  
K S Sakariassen ◽  
T Hovig ◽  
...  

SummaryThe Stormorken syndrome is a multifacetted syndrome including a bleeding tendency. No deviations were found in the coagulation- or fibrinolytic systems. Platelet number was low normal, and size abnormal, whereas EM findings were unremarkable. Survival time was half normal. Clot retraction was initially rapid, but clearly decreased, whereas prothrombin consumption was also initially rapid, but complete. Membrane GP’s were normal, so was AA metabolism, PI-cycle, granule storage and secretion, and c-AMP function, whereas 5-HT uptake and storage was decreased. Optical platelet aggregation was low normal with all physiological agonists. The only clearly abnormal finding was that coagulant activity was present on non stimulated platelets at the same level as kaolin-stimulated normal platelets. This indicated a platelet abnormality which should lead to a thrombogenic, not to a haemorrhagic trait. This paradox may have its origin in rheology, because when challenged with in vivo shear rates in an ex vivo perfusion chamber, platelet cohesion was abnormally low. Further studies to better delineate the membrane abnormality are underway.


1996 ◽  
Vol 75 (02) ◽  
pp. 313-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
D J Kim ◽  
A Girolami ◽  
H L James

SummaryNaturally occurring plasma factor XFriuli (pFXFr) is marginally activated by both the extrinsic and intrinsic coagulation pathways and has impaired catalytic potential. These studies were initiated to obtain confirmation that this molecule is multi-functionally defective due to the substitution of Ser for Pro at position 343 in the catalytic domain. By the Nelson-Long site-directed mutagenesis procedure a construct of cDNA in pRc/CMV was derived for recombinant factor XFriuli (rFXFr) produced in human embryonic (293) kidney cells. The rFXFr was purified and shown to have a molecular size identical to that of normal plasma factor X (pFX) by gel electrophoretic, and amino-terminal sequencing revealed normal processing cleavages. Using recombinant normal plasma factor X (rFXN) as a reference, the post-translational y-carboxy-glutamic acid (Gla) and (β-hydroxy aspartic acid (β-OH-Asp) content of rFXFr was over 85% and close to 100%, respectively, of expected levels. The specific activities of rFXFr in activation and catalytic assays were the same as those of pFXFr. Molecular modeling suggested the involvement of a new H-bond between the side-chains of Ser-343 and Thr-318 as they occur in anti-parallel (3-pleated sheets near the substrate-binding pocket of pFXFr. These results support the conclusion that the observed mutation in pFXFr is responsible for its dysfunctional activation and catalytic potentials, and that it accounts for the moderate bleeding tendency in the homozygous individuals who possess this variant procoagulant.


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